Question for those that sell guns

Status
Not open for further replies.
Considering that clerks at large stores may make mistakes that get the company in trouble it could just be a QA measure to prevent errors in a regulated transaction.
That's for sure. A buddy of mine bought a pistol at a local gun store and just paid for it and walked out. No BC or 4473. Basically they had too many cooks in the kitchen, as it were, and multiple people thought that the other people had done what they were supposed to, when in fact, nobody had. They had his phone number though and he got a very polite phone call a few days later asking him if he would pretty please come in and fill out the paperwork. He ended up with some free ammo out of the deal. I imagine they were rather nervous there for a bit.
 
I live in Montana.
OK, that helps a lot. I’m fairly certain Montana doesn’t have any extra paperwork or background check requirements than those required by federal law, and I’m fairly certain that their carry permit meets the federal requirements to skip a NICS check (and state law doesn’t ignore it and require a check anyway). So I’m going to address your first post with the assumption that Montana simply adheres to federal laws (and if I’m wrong in that assumption, someone with specific knowledge of Montana’s gun laws please correct me).

I bought a S&W Shield at Cabela's today and when I gave the salesman my DL and CC permit he said he had to go into the office and do some checks and fill out some paperwork before we got to the 4473. I questioned him about what checks he needed to do and he indicated that they were pre check so there would not be any NICS problems.
[...]
I told him that of all the firearms that I have purchased in the past using my CCW, even at Cabela's nobody has ever done any paperwork other than the 4473. He said that they do at Cabela's so that there are no mistakes on the 4473. So what gives?
There is no “pre-NICS” check. In the absence of a special state requirement (which I’m pretty sure Montana doesn’t have), either he’s really bad at explaining things or Cabela’s has some sort of policy where they run your info against their internal database to see if you’ve ever been previously denied at any of their stores. But since you mentioned that that doesn’t happen at other Cabela’s locations (I’ve never bought a gun at Cabela’s), maybe it’s some store specific thing they do to minimize paperwork mistakes, or maybe its just for that employee to help him with the 4473 because he’s new? Who knows. But it’s not something required by federal law.

I told him that NICS checks weren't necessary because I provided my CCW. He said that it was necessary.
I’m guessing that Cabela’s still runs NICS checks purely for liability reasons even when a state’s permit allows them to skip it. Either that or the employee had no idea what he was doing.
 
You can do a background check on somebody that theoretically shows their criminal record but isn't run through NICS.
Yes, but in the NICS system available to FFLs, there’s no (legal) way to run a background check unless it’s in conjunction with a firearm transfer.
 
Yes, but in the NICS system available to FFLs, there’s no (legal) way to run a background check unless it’s in conjunction with a firearm transfer.
Why would you assume that they're exclusively using the NICS system? It's quite possible they're simply doing a regular free background check first so they lower the chances of having to deal with a denied NICS. I'm not aware of any law that says an FFL can't do that.
 
Why would you assume that they're exclusively using the NICS system? It's quite possible they're simply doing a regular free background check first so they lower the chances of having to deal with a denied NICS. I'm not aware of any law that says an FFL can't do that.
You mean like one of those online background check services? I suppose they could do that (as long as it followed any applicable laws). But it doesn’t seem to make much sense to me why they would do that. It wouldn’t save much (if any) time for the store, and I don’t see how it could help much with their legal liability, but I’ll admit I don’t know much about liability and how it relates to lawsuits.
 
Last edited:
That can serve two main purposes IMO - one, that protects you from being accused of stealing one of their guns; secondly, if that gun is used in a crime, they have a record of who last brought it in their location.

If they have a 4473 they have a record of who bought the gun.
 
You mean like one of those online background check services? I suppose they could do that (as long as it followed any applicable laws).
Yeah.
But it doesn’t seem to make much sense to me why they would do that. It wouldn’t save much (if any) time for the store, and I don’t see how it could help much with their legal liability, but I’ll admit I don’t know much about liability and how it relates to lawsuits.
It could save time if they were saved the hassle of a denied NICS. It only takes seconds to do one of those checks, lots quicker than NICS most of the time. I'm just guessing though. Might not have anything to do with that. I've found that policies at big companies like that are often similar to government policies. Logic is not always used in the decision making process.
 
Our OP is running head long into Bass Pro rules. I buy from a variety of sources and rarely have difficulty. The sales people usually smile ands say "great" when I produce my CC permit, which probably means it makes their job easier. But, I haven't purchased anything fro+m Cabela's/BP lately. Having been around as an active buyer for 60 years and on the planet for 73, not much surprises me. What I would refuse to do is use BPs shooting range and thus allow them to keep a record that is not even permitted by the feds. That amounts to registration...no thank you.
 
I live in Montana. And Cabela's here also does the E -4473 which does take longer. I never thought about it before but maybe it just makes it easier to transfer digitally to BATF if there is a need. Their inquiries would be a lot simpler that way.

Most retailers that use the E-4473 print and store the form. They don't keep an electronic record.
 
That's for sure. A buddy of mine bought a pistol at a local gun store and just paid for it and walked out. No BC or 4473. Basically they had too many cooks in the kitchen, as it were, and multiple people thought that the other people had done what they were supposed to, when in fact, nobody had. They had his phone number though and he got a very polite phone call a few days later asking him if he would pretty please come in and fill out the paperwork. He ended up with some free ammo out of the deal. I imagine they were rather nervous there for a bit.

I know they were. I saw an ad for a store about an hour away from me that was selling stripped lowers. I made the pilgrimage over there, handed over the money, they gave me a box with the lower and said "Have a nice day." I politely reminded him that the lower is "the firearm" and I needed a 4473 to fill out. I too, got some free ammo out of the deal. 100 round can of 5.56. Still have it unopened somewhere. Probably saved that clerks job or at the very least a lot of hair pulling.
 
I would have walked. Establish a relationship with a local shop and avoid the corporate policy.
 
You mean like one of those online background check services? I suppose they could do that (as long as it followed any applicable laws). But it doesn’t seem to make much sense to me why they would do that. It wouldn’t save much (if any) time for the store, and I don’t see how it could help much with their legal liability, but I’ll admit I don’t know much about liability and how it relates to lawsuits.

Possibly looking for pending charges, outstanding warrants? I don't know if NICS gets reports of those or of convictions only.
 
i have a hard time understanding what everyone talks about here about what they have to do to buy a gun. i live so rural that when i go to a village of anysize around this side of the state the people scare the crap out of me. the young people all look like viking warriors or celts fighting the romans. what we have to do is give a card approving me by local law officers as safe to sell a gun to and i can buy it right their with one more very short forum to fill out. just done that in alliance ne. layed one away a ruger lcr 22 8shooter for the wife. no hassel, no fuss, just money, my card and that forum when i pay it off. when i order one off of the internet a local hardware store just charges me 10 dollars to have it sent to them. i show them the card and fill out the short form and take it home. hate to see that it is more complicated for many on this forum. the cops would never ever given me this card if i was with felonies. got in a couple of fights once when i was younger but amounted to nothing on my record. man do i live rural, can not get used to how the young people look in the real towns 100 miles or so from my house.
 
i have a hard time understanding what everyone talks about here about what they have to do to buy a gun. i live so rural that when i go to a village of anysize around this side of the state the people scare the crap out of me. the young people all look like viking warriors or celts fighting the romans. what we have to do is give a card approving me by local law officers as safe to sell a gun to and i can buy it right their with one more very short forum to fill out. just done that in alliance ne. layed one away a ruger lcr 22 8shooter for the wife. no hassel, no fuss, just money, my card and that forum when i pay it off. when i order one off of the internet a local hardware store just charges me 10 dollars to have it sent to them. i show them the card and fill out the short form and take it home. hate to see that it is more complicated for many on this forum. the cops would never ever given me this card if i was with felonies. got in a couple of fights once when i was younger but amounted to nothing on my record. man do i live rural, can not get used to how the young people look in the real towns 100 miles or so from my house.
That's actually more messing around than folks in most states have to deal with. In most states, you don't have to get permission from the cops before buying or selling a firearm.
 
When I lived in Lewisville, TX I used to go to the Bass Pro in Grand Prairie for their excellent indoor range. Didn't much care that whenever I entered with a gun, they checked it (OK, to ensure it was unloaded) but then proceeded to write down my ID, the make, model, and SN# of the firearm. When I inquired about why that was necessary, they said it was "for their records." Further questioning produced the information that they kept files on all customers who used their range, with every make model and SN# of firearm they brought into the store in a permanent file. Needless to say, I went elsewhere to shoot my other guns. :scrutiny::scrutiny::(

That can serve two main purposes IMO - one, that protects you from being accused of stealing one of their guns; secondly, if that gun is used in a crime, they have a record of who last brought it in their location.


I misunderstood this post when I read it. I would have left immediately the very first time they tried that.
 
One reason for checks, even when in possession of a CCW, is knowing what you've done since getting the permit. You may have a dozen retraining orders filed against you that won't be known by any LGS that doesn't do a NICS check.
 
One reason for checks, even when in possession of a CCW, is knowing what you've done since getting the permit. You may have a dozen retraining orders filed against you that won't be known by any LGS that doesn't do a NICS check.
That makes total sense to me, a CWP is good for multiple years, someone could have done a 2 year prison sentence and retrieved their card once out and bought whatever they wanted.
 
That makes total sense to me, a CWP is good for multiple years, someone could have done a 2 year prison sentence and retrieved their card once out and bought whatever they wanted.
In theory, the issuing agency (in NC it is the county Sheriff) is supposed to monitor the records of the permit holder and if anything pops up that would deny his permit, they go and retrieve it. They don't issue it and then forget about the guy for 4 or 5 years.
 
He might be talking about his driver's license or CCW, at least I hope he is.
His writing is a bit tough to decipher, given the run on sentences and lack of capitalization and punctuation, but he mentioned Alliance, NE. Surprisingly, Nebraska requires a purchase permit for handguns so I'm guessing that's what he was talking about.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top